


Third Time's the Charm

by Toyabear



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Parents!, Time Travel Shenanigans, grandad Arthur to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:15:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24136471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toyabear/pseuds/Toyabear
Summary: Hermione's out with the girls, Harry's babysitting. What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 45
Collections: Harmony For Essentials Gift Exchange





	Third Time's the Charm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ropeter](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Ropeter).



> For Ropeter aka Roisin. Please enjoy. Love and hugs

Harry woke slowly. He blinked rapidly trying to figure out his surroundings. He was home, in the small cottage in Hogsmeade that he and Hermione called home during the off months and school holidays. He’d come back from a warding consult rather late the night before. Goblins tended to work straight through til a job was finished. Time is money after all. His beautiful wife was out running errands and his offspring was...oh no. Lillian Rose was somewhere in the house without supervision for goodness knows how long.

At four and a half; Lillian Rose was the spitting image of her mother with fiery red hair. She had Hermione’s curls and her upturned nose and even her large overbite. She was cute as a button. She got her smarts from her mother as well, but her mischievousness came from her uncle George and her Marauder heritage. Which, as Hermione liked to tease, was all his side of the family.

But right now Harry’s little angel was somewhere quietly up to no good. He sat up on the sofa and ran up the stairs to her room. There was no sign of the small child. Cursing under his breath he headed to the kitchen dreading what he would find.

Flour. Everywhere. Eggs too. Chocolate was smeared on the walls and his beautiful baby was sitting on the overturned table, (overturned!) humming to herself as she polished off the last of the Girl Guide cookies from that year. Hermione was going to kill him.

As Harry sat there trying to figure out how to fix this mess, a set of keys jingled and the doorknob began to turn. Grabbing his giggling daughter, he hustled upstairs to his field kit and his time turner and ran to the bathroom to fix this mess.

Only, somehow, things got worse. Harry was baffled. He wasn’t sure how it happened but he got locked in the bathroom but Lillian got out. And this one made a mess in the sitting room. There was crayon drawings all over the walls, finger paint in her hair, and please dear Merlin, let that be apple juice spilled on the carpet. And to make matters worse, his little angel was on the verge of a sleepy time tantrum, pouty lip and all.

Before Harry could decide which mess to fix first, that telltale jingle and the creaky doorknob decided his plan of action for him. He hustled Lillian in the downstairs bath and could just make out past!Harry hustling the other Lillian upstairs out the corner of his eye. This time he turned twice and wrapped the cord of the time-turner around the both of them. He heard Hermione’s voice in his head, “Third times always the Charm, Harry.” It was her favorite saying, he was her third major boyfriend after Krum and Malfoy, they’d gotten married in the third year of their relationship, and they’d conceived Lillian on their third try.

Two hours later Harry concluded to himself that the third time was definitely NOT the charm today. The whole cottage was a wreck by now and he was sat in the downstairs pantry trying to avoid the past version of himself who would come down any moment. And that poor bloke would never know how good he had it Harry thought bitterly. He entered the kitchen just in time to see the door open.

“Hullo!” Harry looked up confused. Arthur was bustling through the doorway. “Molly-wobbles just sent me in to check up on things,” he was saying. Then he turned around and got his first good look of the kitchen. His eyes widened. “Looks like I came just in time. What happened?” Harry looked at the cheerful red headed man, and felt the whole story tumbling out.

“And so when time finally caught up with itself, I sent Lillian to take a nap and I...threw myself a pity party in the pantry,” he concluded sheepishly. By this point in the story the men had the kitchen mostly to rights and Arthur had gotten the walls sparkling. “I just can’t figure out where things got so mixed up at. I thought the time- turner would definitely work.” Harry added, waving his wand over the floor to clean up the last of the chocolate.

“Well,” said Arthur. “It might have done, if you’d never saw the kitchen.” Harry whirled around, to see Arthur cheerfully straightening up the settee. Hermione’s third year self popped into his head. They never saw Buckbeak executed and thusly were able to save both the hippogryph and Sirius. “Oh. OH!” Harry knocked his head against the nearest wall. “Once I saw the mess it became an immutable fact.” he lamented. “Just so, “Arthur called back cheerily. He gave the home a final walk through and did a small flick to a lopsided painting. The painting straightened up and it occupant called out gratefully.

He turned to Harry, “it’s a good thing Hermione stopped by and asked us to check on you before she went off with Ginny and the other girls. Se said she know you could handle it but she also knew that you hadn’t had much sleep and would welcome the visit from the grandparents as it were.”

Harry felt a rush of love for his spouse. She was always looking out for his well-being. Her nurturing nature was something he vowed never to take for granted.

Arthur was gathering his things. “My visit can be our little secret,” he winked, and then heading out the back door he apparated away.

A few moments later, Hermione arrived home. “Hello darling, how was your day?” She greeted her husband with hugs and kisses. “Better, now that I’m seeing you.” He replied.

**Author's Note:**

> Completely unbetaed. All mistakes are my own. I own nothing else you may recognize.


End file.
